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Essays

No.4: 'Covering' the world with Brahman is moksha

In this quote by Swami Paramarthananda, he raises the issue of how, due to our misperception, we miss or ignore the subtle truth about existence and as a result, suffer.


See if you can follow the logic (comments in brackets).

"Brahman [consciousness / God without attributes] is the cause and the world is an effect. The world is a huge bunch of names and forms in Brahman [the world resides in consciousness; existence is non-dual]. Brahma satyam [Brahman is real; absolute truth regarding reality]. Jagat mithya [the world is not real; transient]. We miss Brahman and see the mithya world [erroneously believing consciousness resides in the world]. World as though ‘covers’ Brahman. World has beauty and novelty. But no stability. Moha [delusion] is due to expectation of stability from the world [that all objects, people and experiences should be unchanging]. Śoka [sorrow] is the suffering due to moha. We should reverse the process. ‘Covering’ Brahman with the world is samsara [the constant state of misinterpreting reality and suffering as a result]. ‘Covering’ the world with Brahman is mokśa [freedom]."

—Quote from "Isavasya Bhashyam" by Swami Paramarthananda

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